"What be her to 'ee?" Lestwick asked again, and then the smouldering passion burst into flame, foul words, fouler suggestions came to his lips. He ground his teeth together, he quivered from head to foot. In his madness and passion he fumbled with those restless hands of his with his clothing—and Allan misunderstood.
And so the fight began and the girl drew a long shuddering breath and watched. She saw them strike at one another, saw Abram Lestwick reel, staggering back with blood on his face, and she exulted, she wanted to scream her joy and gladness aloud. Oh! this man of hers, this Allan who belonged to her, whom she loved so madly, so passionately, what a man, what a man he was, how big and strong and broad, how fine to love a man like this!
"Kill him, kill him, kill him!" she prayed voicelessly, "Oh kill him!"
They had fought away from the wall, they were near to the middle of the chalk white road.
In the dim light she could see only Lestwick's face, Allan's broad back was towards her and Lestwick's face was all blood smeared and his eyes shone with an unholy light.
"Kill him!" she whispered, "oh kill him!"
She uttered a choking cry of joy, she saw Lestwick fling up his arms and spin round and then fall, fall crashing into the roadway, she watched him for a breathless moment as he lay there motionless. Then her breath came back to her, the blood coursed in her veins again, for the man had moved, he was rising slowly, painfully, but rising. He stood up, shaken and unsteady and his face was no sight for a maid to see, but she rivetted her eyes on it.
"Will you go now? Ah! you damned villain!"
Lestwick's fingers were again busy with his clothes and yet again Allan misunderstood. He thought the man was fumbling for a knife to draw on him and so gave him no time.
Another blow staggered Lestwick, but he did not go down, the fury in his face was an ill thing to see, his teeth were bared and snapping like the teeth of a mad dog. He tried to close with Allan, disregarding the blows that fell on him, tried to close and to get those long green teeth of his into the other man's soft flesh. And the girl knew it and screamed a warning.